We continue to tell the adventure of Chief Engineer İlhan Özerdim on the SS Yozgat Ship.
Dear brother İlhan Özerdim, completed his first voyage with the Yozgat ship with the following paragraph; “Thus, the lovely S/S Yozgat, which could not leave the port for a long time like 3 months, was put to sea within a week. He made his way to Karachi, Pakistan, navigating his nose. Since the adventure of the long journey is also a subject of a separate article, I will end this memory here for now.”
I am sharing with you the voyage of the S/S Yozgat ship, over the Cape of Good Hope, to the port of Karachi. I am sure that everyone working on D.B. Marine Transport ships shares the same feelings as İlhan brother.
S/S Yozgat Ship Adventure 2
Finally, our ship was able to sail. Our arrival is the Pakistani port of Karachi. I used to spend 12-15 hours a day (with my 8-hour shift) in the Engine Room. Every day, I wrote 4 hours of overtime in the workbook and had it signed by the Chief Engineer. The company had a directive to the ship's captain and chief engineer: "In case of unnecessary overtime work, the overtime paid will be deducted from the chief's salary". The fact that I wrote 4 uninterrupted hours every day (the maximum daily overtime hours) must have disturbed the Chief Engineer because one day he asked me "why do you write 4 hours of work every day?" she asked. "I am working. I even work more than 4 hours. I am writing for him.” I said. "Nevermind. So much work.” said.
“Look, brother, I made many voyages on this ship. Especially in such a neglected situation, if we do not take care of the business, this ship will not run,” I said, but he insisted on his own opinion.
“Then let's do this if you want: I'll just hold my watch. Whenever you need me and call me downstairs, we will start the taximeter”, we agreed.
The day after this speech or the day after, 3. Eng. With a sample of boiler water for which he had chemical analysis in his hand, he said with wide eyes, “Brother, there is sea water in the boilers” and it dawned on me.
Somehow we could not quite understand; seawater has leaked into the boiler feed water circuit.
With your permission, I will make a small explanation:
“In boilers, especially water-tube boilers, pure water is used without any foreign matter. Pure water is produced from the fresh water we use with a device called an evaporator on board. (There are also devices that produce pure water from sea water.) In fact, if there were no steam and water leaks, there should be no water shortage in the boiler and feed water equipment.
Or very little. (Feed water=Feed water=pure water) It is naturally proportional to the age and weathering of this ship. Especially on a troubled ship like Yozgat, think about the size of the job. The work does not end with using pure water alone; 30 ATM. A chemical analysis is carried out by taking samples from the boiler water every day so that the water at an average of 115 degrees and superheated steam at 350 degrees do not damage the boilers and the system under pressure. The hardness, phosphate value, chloride, alkalinity and ph value of the water are checked and recorded. Taking these values into account, the necessary drugs are taken to the boilers every day. It's just like the doctor giving the necessary medication to the patient according to the results of the blood test."
Let's get back to our topic. Off the coast of Madagascar, we stopped the main engine and remained stationary for two days. We threw the waters of one of the cauldrons into the sea, and then the other. We washed the cauldrons with fresh water as much as possible. We filled it with feed water, put a fire, and kept pressure. The capacity of the boilers is 5 tons. 20 tons of reserve feed water, 10 tons left. This amount does not even fill the cavity of Yozgat's tooth. Naturally, we entered a strict working tempo in order to bypass this critical situation and to minimize water and steam leaks. (We always work at that pace anyway.) We arrived in Karachi. I don't remember how long we stayed there. We went around India and came to Bangladesh. Then we entered the Kenyan port of Mombasa. When we were done there, we came to Durban in South Africa.
We suffered two casualties in this port. As we were not used to left-hand traffic, the Chief Engineer was hit by a car. Injured. He was hospitalized. The company sent a naval engineer. Second casualty; A vosvos crashed into the giant sailor Mehmet. There was no major damage to Mehmet, but the vosvos became unusable.
Just as we were about to take off, we realized that the main condenser was hybridizing and the take-off was cancelled. It took us 3 days to fix the hybrid. The port authorities, who didn't like us occupying the quay unnecessarily, claimed that we had made a mistake to stay longer in Durban, and sent experts aboard to investigate the situation. Then he licked his palm.
A few years ago, as a result of the war between Israel and Egypt, the Suez Canal was closed and still not open, so we had to travel around Africa to get to Turkey.
After a long cruise, we passed Gibraltar and entered the port of Iskenderun.
Saying, “We returned from America to Karachi, from Karachi to Bengaldesh, from Bengaldesh to Kenya, from Kenya to South Africa and finally to Turkey” is very easy in words. An old, worn and very troubled ship like Yozgat could only complete such long voyages with the devoted and wearisome efforts of the Machinery personnel. In other words, to be more precise, the Yozgat ship completed these voyages by navigating on the back of the machinery personnel. It is a human duty to deliver this in this way.
Passing through Istanbul from Iskenderun, we unloaded our last cargo at the Romanian port of Constanta and returned to Istanbul. We anchored at Ortaköy angles.
The crew of the ship, who completed a Magellanic world tour for a long time, like 1 year, was finally able to reunite with their families.
(America, Karachi, Bengal, Kenya, South Africa, Gibraltar and Turkey are making a serious expedition by completing the expedition).
With a repair list of 188 items, I informed the BOD Md. that the ship should be repaired at the shipyard. We waited at the anchor off Ortaköy for the day we were to be repaired.
We could not keep more than 20 (must be 30) vacuums in the condensers of the generators. (Vacuum = Vacuum = 95% of the air in a closed container
discharged state) This was causing the condenser to overheat. This extreme temperature is always likely to harbor further malfunctions
(Condenser=The cooler that condenses the steam that has worked in the turbines, that is, turns it back into water.)
The only solution I could find was to keep the host running. When we combined the main condenser with a powerful 30 vacuum and the condensers of the generators, vacuum buckled in all of them, and everything turned into rosy. However, this had a small drawback: You can't keep turbines that are ready to run in a non-rotating position for a long time, because the rotors of the turbines will sag from the heat and cause bigger problems. The only solution is to keep the main machine spinning. I gave enough steam to the main turbines to turn 3-5 lane.
Since the ship was loaded in the port of Constanta and the propeller was in the water, its rotation was not visible from the outside. But when the ship was completely empty and half of the propeller was above the water, the rotation of the anchored ship's propeller became visible to everyone.
You will understand the reason for making this technical explanation when you read the following paragraph.
One day he sent me to BOD Md. Cemal brother (Cemalettin Birişık mk.49) called.
The General Manager saw from his house that the propeller of the anchored Yozgat ship was spinning, and he was very surprised. He asked the BOD Manager why. Jamal brother also asked me. I told you the situation I explained in the paragraph above to Cemal Abi. “If you want me to stop the propeller, then I have to shut down the whole machine and go into idle state. If I do, the ship will become uninhabitable and you will have to withdraw all personnel.” I said. They talked to the top. Finally they said go shut the ship.
They withdrew all the staff. I stopped main engine and the generators, turned off the boiler. A sailor on board, a mk. The man and I remained. I am the 2nd Eng of the ship. My job was going on. I used to go to the ship occasionally for inspection.
I don't remember the duration very well, but I think we waited 20-30 days like that.
While we were waiting, Osman brother from the BOD Directorate called me.
“Ilhan, I will give you the most talented team of the Company. I was surprised when I said, "Go to the ship immediately and prepare the ship for the expedition".
“While Osman is waiting to enter the shipyard with a repair list of 188 items, you are asking me to prepare the ship for the voyage. I don't quite understand how this works."
“Look, my son İlhan; There is great pressure on the Company from Ankara. The Russians were going to establish an oil refinery in İzmir Alağa. Refinery material will be transported from Odessa's İlichevsk Port to Aliağa. We are asked to immediately allocate a ship to transport these goods. At the moment, we have no ships at our disposal and near us, other than Yozgat. That's why you need to prepare the ship for sailing as soon as possible. We have no other choice. The voyage is short anyway.” said.
You will say, “There is no rule that you have to undertake this job. On the pretext that he had been on the ship for a long time, and that he had been on very tiring and long voyages, he was replaced by a 2nd engineer. You could have asked for a leave of absence to rest.”
Yes that's true. Despite knowing this fact, it never occurred to me to make such a request. I wonder if I was subconsciously under the influence of a feeling of “running away from duty”? I do not know. It was as if the ship was my personal property and I was a partner of Sea Freight!!!
I took the crew and went to the ship. We revived the ship by working day and night for 10-15 days. Equipped with staff. Kurdish Ziya (Ziya Tansev, Gv.36) was appointed as the Captain. In the following days, he told me himself: “What kind of person is the person called İlhan? he inquired, at the BOD Department. His responses were very short: “Very good, if you don't get hit.”
Chief Eng. I asked BOD Md. who is coming. “Chief Eng. you,” they said.
Then 2. Eng. I repeated my question. "2. they said "you too"!!! I have a newly graduated Vard with me. Eng. and a practical Watchkeeping Officer named Muzaffer. One evening, in the second half of October 1969, we took the anchor at vira bismillah. Our speed is 3 miles. We had a very difficult time at the Cape of Current, but we barely overcame the current and lost the success to anyone. Under these conditions, the Black Sea is like the Atlantic Ocean for us. Zia Cp. He placed a position from the Stars with a sextant. After a long journey, we found Odessa's Ilychevsk port and berthed to its quay. Downloading is done. The difficult return voyage began. When I arrived in Istanbul, I requested a repair company for some repairs that required outside assistance. I stayed at anchor for 1-2 days and made the repairs I wanted to be done and we continued our voyage.
While I was unloading the loads in Aliağa and passing through Istanbul, I again asked for outside help for some important works. Every time we passed through Istanbul, minor repairs continued. So I was gradually reducing the 188-item repair list.
The Company, which was not very pleased with the disruption of the transit in our Istanbul transits, initially opposed it, but over time it got used to this situation and its voice became muted. Moreover, this method had a very important benefit: The speed of the ship, which was 3 miles at first, increased slightly over time, reaching normal levels. The Captain no longer needed to use a sextant in the Black Sea.
Since two of these stances that disrupt the transit are still alive in my memories, I would like to tell you about them.
“The side plate of the starboard boiler, to which the bluff (discharge of the boiler water into the sea) pipe is connected, has rotted. When the ship is loaded, a lot of water enters the engine room.
We were having a hard time pushing the bilges. When the ship was empty, the upper part of the rotten hair remained above the water, and light and brilliance leaked from the hole. The hair needed to be strengthened, both inside and out. I wanted a diver and the necessary equipment for the team to work inside and outside. For some reason, the Company wanted to postpone this for next time. I argued that when the ship was loaded, the water entering the engine room increased a lot and we had a hard time pushing the bilge, and it would be better to deal with the issue immediately. By tilting the ship well to the pier off Haydarpaşa (I don't remember how many degrees we tilted it now), we ensured that the rotten section was completely out of the water and we completed the repair.”
“The latter stuck in my mind because it had an ironic tone. We are anchored in Haydarpaşa.
We started to prepare the main engine to take the anchor and set out on the expedition. But we can't hold a vacuum. There is an air leak from somewhere, but from where. There is no place left for us to seek. We've been busy all day. But there is no vacuum.
Why is this ship still up? Osman Ağabey also came to the ship, as İlhan Özerdim's S/S Yozgat Ship adventure was the end of it. We're all in pursuit of vacuum. But there is no vacuum. I don't quite remember how it happened now, but we finally found the vacuum, grabbed it by the ear, turned on the main engine and set off, albeit belatedly."
A trip between Ilychevsk and Aliaga took an average of 28 days. We were staying at the loading port for 10-12 days and for almost the same time in Aliağa. It was on the cruise for 5-6 days. Thus, I translated these expeditions as the Chief Engineer of my beloved Yozgat for 8-9 months. Then, for some personal reasons, I left Yozgat in July 1970.
D.B. 2.5 years of the total 20-year working period in Deniz Nakliyat was spent on the unfaithful half YOZGAT ship.
